Not even the jingle bells attached to the heels of his Bishop Lynch rival would intimidate Jan Meterka, his legs moving like pistons, the sweat dripping off his face, as he crossed the finish line of the 4×440 relay. Victory at last.
Materka’s victory that afternoon in 1972 was one among many accomplishments that secured his election to the Jesuit Sports Hall of Fame this year. Forty-one years after his graduation, Jan received his blue Jesuit coat, just like those who came before him at the Blue and Gold Induction Ceremony on May 11th.
Jan was born in Dallas on December 21, 1953. He went to St. Bernard of Clarivaux School until 4th grade. When his parents divorced, Jan, his mom, and his older sister moved to Farmers Branch, where Jan attended Hexter Elementary for one year. At Hexter in 5th grade Jan recognized his gift for running during Field Day.
“I was able to outrun everybody else. Up until then, I never had any desire to compete in track. I didn’t even know what track was! Looking back, I realize that this is where the seed was planted.” After Hexter, Jan attended DeWitt Perry Middle School through 8th grade. As the end of middle school neared, Jan wanted to go to R. L. Turner High School; however, his mother had already decided upon Jesuit.
“When I came in my freshman year to Jesuit, I was a little behind the other kids. But, looking back, the whole Jesuit experience was so different from what I’d encountered. The classes were interesting, especially filmmaking. I loved being on the swim team, cross-country running, and killing time between classes playing ping pong, etc.”
Not until his sophomore year did Jan start becoming the cross country and track star of the school. He lettered in both cross country and track sophomore, junior and senior years.
Senior year was probably the best year for Jan. For track, he held or shared three school records in the 440, the 880, and the 4×440 relay and was state champion in the old Texas Catholic Interscholastic League (TCIL) in the 880 both his junior and senior years.
Jan was elected Captain and MVP for the cross country team and was also awarded with All-State. “As team Captain,” Jan explained, “[I] was almost like a policeman. You wanted everybody to do the right thing, to get to the field on time, and to want to get better at what we were doing. If I saw some of the guys messing around, I would get on them to give it their all, because [their actions] were not helping the team at all.”
Jan keeps many treasured moments close to his heart. One such event was in the last leg of the 4×440 relay against track rival Bishop Dunne. “The best thing that ever happened to me at Jesuit was during a track meet where I was running the last leg of a 4×440 relay. Bishop Dunne was our biggest rival, and for years, they owned that race.”
He continued, “Their star in that event was a guy named Tommy Parma. Parma, who also ran the last leg of the race, had a tradition of tying jingle bells on his shoes – probably to intimidate all the other runners. Parma and I ran side by side until those jingle bells got the best of me. Instead of intimidating me, they energized me, and I was able to cross the finish line first!”
Towards the end of his senior year, Jan had a decision to make. He vacillated between New Mexico State University, where he was offered a scholarship for both track and cross country, and his parents’ alma mater, SMU. In the end, Jan decided to go to SMU where he received his B.B.A in Business. He was then involved in mostly intramural sports such as track, swimming, ping pong, and flag football.
But what does a high school running star do after his years of fame? Ever since he graduated from college, Jan has been interested in sales. “My first real job was at a corrugated box plant that my father worked at. After I graduated from SMU, I was offered a job at their location in Houston. I stayed in the industry for quite a few years, broadening my knowledge to include the graphic display business. Eventually I bought my own corrugated box/graphic display plant and built the business to a point where a large corporation noticed me and bought me out. I’m still working in the box/graphic display business to this day.”
Jan still gets tremendous satisfaction from staying involved with Jesuit. For the past 20 years, he has stood at the finish line for the Sheaner Relays. In addition, Jan has participated in the Jesuit Phonathon. Reminiscing about his days as a Jesuit student, Jan said that “Jesuit isn’t just a school; it’s a way of life,” a fine choice of words that describes any person’s experience at Jesuit.
Although Jan has given up his running career, he admits that he is unable to shake the athlete from himself. “I’ve been riding in 40- to 60-mile bike rallies for a couple of years and last summer I was able to achieve the pinnacle of cycling success – completing the Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred (in Wichita Falls).”
Can you teach an old dog new tricks? You betcha!
